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Book Review of A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
reviewed on + 813 more book reviews


In a futuristic England beyond 1984, beyond Anthem, beyond We; it's a baddiwad, bad, bezoomny, mad, bezoomny, bezoomny, mad, mad world out there; not that England hasn't really been like that for several decades. Teens running amok with pseudo-impunity. Everything goes; everything tolerated. Incidentally, be sure to get a book with a glossary of the Nadsat language or you'll be bezoomny (mad) also. Nadsat, it seems, is a permutation of pig-Russian: a patois of the streets to rival that of the gamins of Hugo. Well, except for a few words (such as baddiwad) that don't exist at all, but are spelled correctly. This ego-centric invective has all the trash you can hope for: senseless violence, rape, rapine, murder, gang war, animal cruelty. Did I leave anything out? But, "Big Brother" has a novel method of rehabilitating criminals. None of that goody-two-shoes, namby-pamby parole board farce. If your tummy (guttiwut) is a tad queasy take a whack at this one; you'll feel real horrorshow (well) after a good heave. This book is little more than a big pile of cal; enough to satiate the most ardent sophist. Finished the book? Go ahead and puke. You've earned it!